Graham: 'Foreign policy gone wrong'

Sen. Lindsey Graham said Wednesday the Benghazi attack shows a “light footprint” approach to handling the reverberations of the Arab Spring isn’t working.

“It’s, I think, a foreign policy gone wrong here,” the South Carolina Republican said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” hours before a congressional hearing on the administration’s handling of the attacks on the U.S. facility in Benghazi. “Syria, Libya, Egypt, I think the greater story is that the light footprint approach to the Mideast in a time of turmoil is not working.”

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Graham and Ariz. Sen. John McCain have been some of the loudest voices criticizing the Obama administration’s response to the Benghazi attack, which left four Americans dead on Sept. 11 of last year.

Graham also said the president needs to account for claiming the attack was a result of a video during a late-night comedy appearance. It has since become clear the attack was a planned assault, not the result of a riot.

“On the 18th of September when the president went on Letterman and said this was the result of a hateful video a week after the attack, I think the president needs to explain that statement,” Graham said. “Either he’s really detached or putting a political spin on it and that’s really important.”

Graham similarly said former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should explain why she told victims’ family members the maker of the video would be prosecuted. He said the hearing would show that the administration should’ve identified the attack as terrorist-related from the start and could’ve prevented the attack by deploying military assets.

“When the attack began, nobody knew how long it was going to last,” he said. “And I think you’re going to find more about the spin from the White House about the video is not going to hold water. People who are involved in the attack are going to put it in better context.”